The independent offering, which is now operating under its own P&L, is being led by Ken Kraemer, most recently Deep Focus' chief creative officer. The newly minted CEO said Deep Focus is in the process of searching for his replacement both internally and externally.

"We were looking at what the business could be and the next steps as the social media landscape was evolving, how mobile was becoming more important and traditional not as successful, and it became clear that making [Moment Studio] an independent organization and offering it in ways that clients don't normally buy from agencies could be powerful for clients and the network," said Mr. Kraemer, who is reporting to Rick Eiserman, CEO of Engine Group, North America.

Moment Studio will continue to collaborate with Deep Focus and service a number of existing shared clients, such as Frito-Lay, Nestlé, Purina and eBay. The new agency has also already been pitching for its own business, winning work for Chiquita Bananas a few months ago. The shop extended Chiquita's global "Just Smile" campaign to reach millennial moms in the U.S., which included developing digital content and rebooting the famous jingle as a kids-focused song.

All Moment Studio staffers – about 32 people in New York – have joined the new agency, which plans to open an office in Los Angeles later this year. Moment Studio's Executive Director of Content Christina Cooksey, Creative Director Ron Lent and Executive Director of Business Development Justin Johnson will help Mr. Kraemer lead the offering.

"From an Engine Group standpoint, Moment Studio has proven to be a valuable platform within the portfolio of Engine Group, well beyond Deep Focus, so it was opportunity to enable us to use Moment Studio's offerings across a whole range of client businesses and make it into something more accessible," said Mr. Eiserman.

Mr. Eiserman added that Engine Group could "pour gas on the fire" for other offerings within its network in the future to help them become standalone shops.

One of Mr. Kraemer's goals with Moment Studio for the year is to show clients how the shop can take its creative ideas from concept to execution in a matter of hours or days while maintaining the appropriate brand tone and voice.

"What is really interesting about what we're doing is that it serves as a standalone offering for clients, publishers or retailers to help them survive in a post-advertising world, but it's also a great integration service with a lead agency," he said.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of the story included misinformation from Moment Studio about the agency's employees, which does not include staff based in London. The London Moment Studio team will remain a part of Deep Focus London for the foreseeable future.

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Lindsay Stein

Lindsay Stein is an agency reporter at Ad Age, mainly covering creative, digital and PR. Prior to Ad Age, she was a senior consumer marketing reporter at PRWeek. When she’s not writing – or training for obstacle course runs – she’s working on personal projects, including film production.